Seeds of Success

Julie Vallone, SPECIAL TO THE EXAMINER

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, August 24, 1995

When Renee Shepherd started shipping seed catalogs to home gardeners in 1984, she had planned on cultivating a nice, quiet little home business. Little did she suspect mail-order seeds would turn out to be such a growth industry.

This year Felton-based Shepherd's Garden Seeds grossed more than $5.8 million. Its customer base has grown by an average of 22 percent annually since 1990, and it shipped 2.5 million catalogs during the past year to its large and loyal following of gardening enthusiasts throughout the country.

The company's success can be attributed to a number of factors, starting with a selection of high-quality seeds, gathered from many corners of the world, that reap unusual varieties of tender, tasty produce and flowers. Both retail and wholesale customers turn to Shepherd's for such gourmet staples as habanero chili peppers, baby lettuces, Thai basil and lemon grass, along with a host of elegant flower varieties, from sunflowers to sweet peas.

Then there is Shepherd's beautifully illustrated catalog, featuring "character sketches" of the many vegetable, fruit, herb and flower varieties Shepherd's sells, with each description crafted by Shepherd herself. With the help of her staff, she also composes gardening tips and recipes sprinkled throughout the catalog, as well as other helpful material for customers.

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"If you order tomato seeds from us, I'll send you an information sheet on how to grow them, written by me to you," Shepherd says. "I write to my customers as though they were people I'd enjoy sitting down with and talking to."

That attitude also appears to be a key reason for the company's prosperity. Shepherd and her team of horticultural advisors treat their home gardening customers with tender loving care, patiently answering questions ranging from when to plant arugula to how to prepare pesto.

"Gardening in this country used to be something you learned from your grandmother," Shepherd explains.

"But today, a lot of people now don't have a grandmother or mother who did it. That's why we don't just sell seeds; we want to make sure our customers are happy and successful with the results."

Shepherd even allows customers to see the seeds they buy in action, hosting tours of the company's "trial gardens" outside her home in the Santa Cruz mountains.

Shepherd no longer owns the business she calls her "big little" seed company. In 1987 she sold it to White Flower Farms, a privately owned, Connecticut-based nursery. Now, as Shepherd's CEO, she spends much of her time flying around the world ferreting out new seed varieties and promoting the company at trade shows.

It's a far cry from the role she envisioned more than a decade ago, when the idea to sell seeds took root.

At the time, she was a student with three master's degrees and working on a doctorate in 19th century children's literature, as well as an environmental studies lecturer at UC-Santa Cruz. One afternoon, hosting a gathering at her home, she met the husband of a colleague, a Dutch seed salesman.

After touring her home garden, the seed salesman told her about seed varieties available in Europe that yielded much tastier produce than could be grown in the United States. The seeds produced fruits and vegetables bred to be sold in open markets, to customers who put a higher value on freshness, flavor and texture than on shelf life.

She obtained a few samples, and soon the idea that would eventually sprout a thriving seed business was planted.

Shepherd and her staff shipped 40,000 catalogs in the first year. That number doubled in the second year and continued to grow steadily. Shepherd solicited the help of a few friends and worked out of her Felton home, where packets of seeds lined the floors of her bedroom, living room and halls. Bills and other documents were kept in a humble shoe box, and the whole house smelled of carrots and cress.

"I didn't know anything about business," she recalls.

"My idea of when I made money was when there was money left at the end of the month. I didn't know about budgets, bank relations, credit or any of the standard things ordinary people know.

"What I did know, however, was how to get good advice. My peers in this business have been very helpful. I got advice from many other people in seed companies throughout the country."

Eight years after its sale to White Flower Farms, Shepherd's Garden Seeds is almost as large as its parent company. Most of the seeds are shipped from the Connecticut facility, which has about 50 employees. The production of catalogs and other materials (cookbooks, postcards, seed packets, instructional brochures, etc.) is still handled by a little more than a dozen employees in the company's homey Felton office, a small storefront where locals can pick up their seeds and chat with the staff.

According to Shepherd, the company has managed to show a steady 10 percent return on investment during the past five years, despite skyrocketing paper costs and rising postage rates that have plagued mail-order catalog publishers throughout the country.

But while she strives to be more "lean and mean and well-organized" as a result, Shepherd also struggles to maintain the company's character and personal service orientation. Surprisingly, this down-to-earth seeds saleswoman believes technological improvements will be the company's saving grace, giving it the capacity to respond quickly to a growing customer base and to reach new markets. The company is already planning to create a home page on the Internet's World Wide Web next season.

Shepherd and staff also are nurturing a burgeoning wholesale business, selling seeds at a variety of home and gardening stores. In addition, Shepherd's has ventures with several retailers; its seeds now are on sale in stores like the Nature Company, and packets of its basil seeds are draped around bottles of Bertolli olive oil.

One dimension of the business Shepherd has managed to retain as her own is the publication of Shepherd's cookbooks, fast gaining popularity among gardener-cooks nationwide.

Just this year, "More Recipes from a Kitchen Garden" (Ten Speed Press, 1995, $11.95), a new volume by Shepherd and her cooking partner, Fran Raboff, was released.

"We really focus on gardeners who cook, and cooks who garden," Shepherd says. "It just seems like you're a better cook when you have a garden."

Shepherd stays busy outside the garden and kitchen, too. She is a county planning commissioner, and has been involved in several community environmental projects. The company also donates seeds to hundreds or gardening programs throughout the country, ranging from elementary school classrooms to homeless gardening projects.

Looking back at the past decade,Shepherd takes pride in the fruits of her labor, but eyes the future with a sharpened business sense.

"I think the company has matured as a business, and I have matured as a business person," she says. "Getting the company to be solidly and consistently profitable has allowed us to look a little farther into the future and set goals, so I think the business is getting smarter as we continue to grow."

Shepherd's Garden Seeds catalogs and tours of the "trial garden" (given by reservation from May to October) can be obtained by calling (408) 335-6910.&lt;